Chapter V (2)

“The Gospel Reflector,” published at Philadelphia, lasted for a short
time.

“The Prophet,” published at New York.

“Le Reflecteur,” in French, published at Geneva.

“Etoile du Deserét, Organe de l’Eglise de Jésus-Christ des Saints des
Derniers Jours,” par John Taylor, Paris. It lasted from May, 1851, to
April, 1852, and forms 1 vol. large 8vo, containing 192 pages.

“The Western Standard,” edited and published weekly at San Francisco,
California, United States of America, by Elder George Q. Cannon, now
an Apostle and President of the Church in Great Britain. This paper,
which was distinguished by the beauty of its type and the character
of its composition, lasted through 1856 and 1857; in 1858 it ceased
for want of funds.

“Zion’s Watchman,” published in Australia.

“Udgorn Seion” (the Trump of Zion), published in Wales, a bi-monthly
print, which has reached the ninth volume.

“The Luminary,” St. Louis, Mo.

“The Mormon,” published in New York, a hebdomadal print.

No. 28, vol. x., begins with a hymn of seven stanzas, by C. W. Bryant. Follow remarks by President Brigham Young, at Provo and in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City; the three sermons, which occupy four columns and a half, are separated by “Modern Germany, II.,” by Alexander Ott. There is an article from the “New York Sun,” entitled the “Great Eastern in Court.” It is followed by nearly half a page of “Clippings,” those little recognized piracies which make the American papers as amusing as magazines. Then come advertisements, estray notices, and others, which nearly fill the third and sixth pages, and the column at the eighth, which is the conclusion. I subjoin terms for advertising.[142] The fourth page contains “News by Eastern Mail”--Doings of the Probate Court--Special term of the Probate Court--Another excusable homicide--The season--Imprisoning convicts without labor--Discharge of the city police--Swiss Saints (lately arrived)--Arrival of missionaries at Liverpool--Drowned, Joseph Vest, etc.--Deserét Agriculturing and Manufacturing Society--Information wanted -- and Humboldt’s opinion of the United States (comparing it to a Cartesian vortex, liberty a dead machinery in the hands of Utilitarianism, etc.). The fifth and sixth pages detail news from Europe, the Sicilies, Damascus, and India, proceedings of a missionary meeting in the Bowery, and tidings from Juab and Iron County, with a few stopgaps, such as an explanation of the word Zouave, and the part conversion of the fallen Boston elm into a “Mayor’s seat.” The seventh page is agricultural, and opens with the “American Autumn,” by Fanny Kemble, four stanzas. Then comes Sheep-husbandry No. iii., treating of change of pasture, separation of the flock, and fall management. The other _morceaux_ are “Training the peach-tree,” “Stick to the Farm,” an article concluding with “We shall always sign ‘speed the plow;’ we shall always regard the American farmer, dressed for his employment (!) and tilling his grounds, as belonging to the order of real noblemen”--the less aristocratic Englander would limit himself to “Nature’s gentleman;” “Why pork shrinks in the pot,” and “Wheat-straw, its value as fodder.” The eighth and last page opens with “Correspondence,” and a letter signed Joseph Hall, headed “More results of ‘civilization,’” and dated Ogden City, Sept. 8, 1860. It contains an account of occurrences resulting in the “death of one John Cornwell, a discharged government teamster, and, as is often the case with those Christians who are sent to civilize the ‘Mormons’ of these mountains, a corrupt, profane, and quarrelsome individual, who doted on belonging to the ‘bully tribe.’” Then follows more news from San Pete County. A test of love (that capital story out of C. R. Leslie’s autobiography). Siege of Magdeburg. A hard-shell sermon (preached at Oxford, England), a scrap illustrating the marvelous growth of Quincy, Illinois, and the Legend of the origin of the Piano-forte. The latter is followed by a valuable abstract containing a summary of meteorological observations, barometric and thermometric, for the month of August, 1860, at Great Salt Lake City, Utah, by W. W. Phelps, and concluding with a monthly journal.[143] Then follow the deaths, six in number, and after one of them is inserted [Millennial Star, copy]. There are no marriages, and the Western papers, like those of the East, are still _bégueules_ enough to consider advertising the birth of a child indelicate; at least that was the reason given to me. The last column contains the terms for advertising and the “fill-up” advertisements.

[142] ADVERTISING.--Ten lines or less constitute one square.

_Regular Advertisements._

One quarter column (four squares or less), for each insertion $1 50
Half column (seven squares or less), each insertion 3 00
One column (fourteen squares or less) 6 00

_Sundry Advertisements._

One square, each insertion $1 00
Two „ „ 1 50
Three „ „ 2 00

Thus upward, with half a dollar to the additional square for each
insertion.

[143]

The maximum of the barometer during the month is 26·100; min. 25·400
„ „ „ thermometer „ „ 95° F.; „ 60° F.

There fell of rain water 0·670 inches during five days marked
showery. Fifteen days are marked clear and pleasant, or hot and dry,
or hot and very dry, the 22d being the hottest; and the others are
partially clear, or clear and cloudy, or hazy and cloudy.

[THE “MOUNTAINEER.”]

The “Mountaineer,” whose motto is “Do what is right, let the consequence follow,” is considered rather a secular paper. It appears on Saturdays, and the terms of subscription are $6 per annum; the occasional supplement is issued gratis. It formerly belonged to three lawyers, Messrs. Stout, Blair, and Ferguson; it has now passed into the hands of the two latter. Mr. Hosea Stout distinguished himself during the Nauvoo troubles; he was the captain of forty policemen who watched over the safety of Mr. Joseph Smith, and afterward went on missions to India and China. Major S. M. Blair served under General Sam. Houston in the Texan war of independence, and was a distinguished lawyer in the Southern States. A description of the “Deserét News” will apply to the “Mountaineer.” I notice in the issue of September 15, 1860, that a correspondent, quoting an extract from the “New York Tribune”--the great Republican organ, and therefore no favorite with the Mormons--says, outspokenly enough to please any amount of John Bull, “The author of the above is a most consummate liar”--so far, so good--“and a contemptible dastardly poltroon”--which is invidious.

I passed the morning of the ensuing Sunday in a painful but appropriate exercise, reading the Books of Mormon and of Moroni the Prophet. Some writers tell me that it is the best extant imitation of the Old Testament; to me it seems composed only to emulate the sprightliness of some parts of Leviticus. Others declare that it is founded upon a romance composed by a Rev. Mr. Spaulding; if so, Mr. Spaulding must have been like Prince Puckler-Muskau of traveling notoriety, a romancer utterly without romance. Surely there never was a book so thoroughly dull and heavy: it is monotonous as a sage-prairie. Though not liable to be terrified by dry or hard reading, I was, it is only fair to own, unable to turn over more than a few chapters at a time, and my conviction is that very few are so highly gifted that they have been able to read it through at a heat. In Mormonism it now holds the same locus as the Bible in the more ignorant Roman Catholic countries, where religious reading is chiefly restricted to the Breviary, to tales of miracles, and to legends of Saints Ursula and Bridget. It is strictly proper, does not contain a word about materialism and polygamy[144]--in fact, more than one wife is strictly forbidden even in the Book of Doctrines and Covenants.[145] The Mormon Bible, therefore, is laid aside for later and lighter reading. In one point it has done something. America, like Africa, is a continent of the future; the Book of Mormon has created for it an historical and miraculous past.

[144] Behold the Lamanites (North American Indians), your brethren,
whom ye hate because of their filthiness, and the cursings which hath
come upon their skins, are more righteous than you, for they have
not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our
fathers, that they should have, save it were one wife; and concubines
they should have none; and there should not be whoredoms committed
among them.--_Book of Jacob_, chap. ii., par. 9.

[145] See Chap. IX.

[THE BOWERY.--MUSIC.]

At 9 45 A.M. we entered the Bowery; it is advisable to go early if seats within hearing are required. The place was a kind of “hangar,” about a hundred feet long by the same breadth, with a roofing of bushes and boughs supported by rough posts, and open for ventilation on the sides; it can contain about 3000 souls. The congregation is accommodated upon long rows of benches, opposite the dais, rostrum, platform, or tribune, which looked like a long lane of boarding open to the north, where it faced the audience, and entered by steps from the east. Between the people and the platform was a place not unlike a Methodist “pen” at a camp-meeting: this was allotted to the orchestra, a violin, a bass, two women and four men performers, who sang the sweet songs of Zion tolerably well--decidedly well, after a moment’s reflection as to latitude and longitude, and after reminiscences of country and town chapels in that land where it is said, had the Psalmist heard his own psalms,

“In furious mood he would have tore ’em.”

I was told that “profane”--_i. e._, operatic and other--music is performed at worship, as in the Italian cathedrals, where they are unwilling that Sathanas should monopolize the prettiest airs; on this occasion, however, only hymns were sung.

[DRESS.]

We--the judge’s son and I--took our seats on the benches of the eighth ward, where we could see the congregation flocking in, a proceeding which was not over--some coming from considerable distances--till 10 15 A.M. The people were all _endimanchés_; many a pretty face peeped from the usual sun-bonnet with its long curtain, though the “mushroom” and the “pork-pie” had found their way over the plains, and trim figures were clad in neat stuff dresses, sometimes silk: in very few cases there was a little faded finery--gauze, feathers, and gaudy colors--such as one may see on great festivals in an Old-Country village. The men were as decently attired: the weather, being hot, had caused many of them to leave their coats at home, and to open their vests; the costume, however, looked natural to working-men, and there was no want of cleanliness, such as sometimes lurks behind a bulwark of buttons. The elders and dignitaries on the platform affected coats of black broadcloth, and were otherwise respectably dressed. All wore their hats till the address began, and then all uncovered. By my side was the face of a blear-eyed English servant-girl; _en revanche_ in front was a charming American mother and child: she had, what I have remarked in Mormon meetings at Saville House and other places in Europe, an unusual development of the organ which phrenologists call veneration. I did not see any Bloomers “displaying a serviceable pair of brogues,” or “pictures of Grant Thorburn in petticoats.” There were a few specimens of the “Yankee woman,” formerly wondrous grim, with a shrewd, thrifty gray eye, at once cold and eager, angular in body and mind, tall, bony, and square-shouldered, now softened and humanized by transplantation and transposition to her proper place. The number of old people astonished me; half a dozen were sitting on the same bench; these broken-down men and decrepit crones had come to lay their bones in the Holy City; their presence speaks equally well for their faith and for the kind-heartedness of those who had brought the encumbrance. I remarked some Gentiles in the Bowery; many, however, do not care to risk what they may hear there touching themselves.

At 10 A.M. the meeting opened with a spiritual song. Then Mr. Wallace--a civilized-looking man lately returned from foreign travel--being called upon by the presiding elder for the day, opened the meeting with prayer, of which the two short-hand writers in the tribune proceeded to take notes. The matter, as is generally the case with returned missionaries delivering their budget, was good; the manner was somewhat Hibernian; the “valleys of the mountains”--a stock phrase, appeared and reappeared like the speechifying Patlander’s eternal “emerald green hills and beautiful pretty valleys.” He ended by imploring a blessing upon the (Mormon) President, and all those in authority; Gentiles of course were included. The conclusion was an amen, in which all hands joined: it reminded me of the historical practice of “humming” in the seventeenth century, which caused the universities to be called “_Hum et Hissimi auditores_.”

[THE SERMON.]

Next arose Bishop Abraham O. Smoot, second mayor of Zion, and successor to the late Jedediah M. Grant, who began with “Brethering,” and proceeded at first in a low and methody tone of voice, “hardly audible in the gallery,” to praise the Saints, and to pitch into the apostates. His delivery was by no means fluent, even when he warmed. He made undue use of the regular Wesleyan organ--the nose; but he appeared to speak excellent sense in execrable English. He recalled past persecutions without over-asperity, and promised future prosperity without over-prophecy. As he was in the midst of an allusion to the President, entered Mr. Brigham Young, and all turned their faces, even the old lady--

“Peut-on si bien prêcher qu’elle ne dorme au sermon?”--

who, dear soul! from Hanover Square to far San Francisco, placidly reposes through the discourse.

The Prophet was dressed, as usual, in gray homespun and homewoven: he wore, like most of the elders, a tall, steeple-crowned straw hat, with a broad black ribbon, and he had the rare refinement of black kid gloves. He entered the tribune covered and sat down, apparently greeting those near him. A man in a fit was carried out pumpward. Bishop Smoot concluded with informing us that we should live for God. Another hymn was sung. Then a great silence, which told us that something was about to happen: _that_ old man held his cough; _that_ old lady awoke with a start; _that_ child ceased to squall. Mr. Brigham Young removed his hat, advanced to the end of the tribune, expectorated stooping over the spittoon, which was concealed from sight by the boarding, restored the balance of fluid by a glass of water from a well-filled decanter on the stand, and, leaning slightly forward upon both hands propped on the green baize of the tribune, addressed his followers.

The discourse began slowly; word crept titubantly after word, and the opening phrases were hardly audible; but as the orator warmed, his voice rose high and sonorous, and a fluency so remarkable succeeded falter and hesitation, that--although the phenomenon is not rare in strong speakers--the latter seemed almost to have been a work of art. The manner was pleasing and animated, and the matter fluent, impromptu, and well turned, spoken rather than preached: if it had a fault it was rather rambling and unconnected. Of course, colloquialisms of all kinds were introduced, such as “he become,” “for you and I,” and so forth. The gestures were easy and rounded, not without a certain grace, though evidently untaught; one, however, must be excepted, namely, that of raising and shaking the forefinger; this is often done in the Eastern States, but the rest of the world over it is considered threatening and bullying. The address was long. God is a mechanic. Mormonism is a great fact. Religion had made him (the speaker) the happiest of men. He was ready to dance like a Shaker. At this sentence the Prophet, who is a good mimic, and has much of the old New English quaint humor, raised his right arm, and gave, to the amusement of the congregation, a droll imitation of Anne Lee’s followers. The Gentiles had sent an army to lay waste Zion, and what had they done? Why, hung one of their own tribe! and that, too, on the Lord’s day![146] The Saints have a glorious destiny before them, and their morality is remarkable as the beauty of the Promised Land: the soft breeze blowing over the Bowery, and the glorious sunshine outside, made the allusion highly appropriate. The Lamanites, or Indians, are a religious people. All races know a God and may be saved. After a somewhat lengthy string of sentences concerning the great tribulation coming on earth--it has been coming for the last 1800 years--he concluded with good wishes to visitors and Gentiles generally, with a solemn blessing upon the President of the United States, the territorial governor, and all such as be in authority over us, and, with an amen which was loudly re-echoed by all around, he restored his hat and resumed his seat.

[146] Alluding to one Thos. H. Ferguson, a Gentile; he killed, on
Sept. 17th, 1859, in a drunken moment, A. Carpenter, who kept a
boot and shoe store. Judge Sinclair, according to the Mormons, was
exceedingly anxious that somebody should be _sus. per coll._, and,
although intoxication is usually admitted as a plea in the Western
States, he ignored it, and hanged the man on Sunday. Mr. Ferguson was
executed in a place behind the city; he appeared costumed in a Robin
Hood style, and complained bitterly to the Mormon troops, who were
drawn out, that his request to be shot had not been granted.

Having heard much of the practical good sense which characterizes the Prophet’s discourse, I was somewhat disappointed: probably the occasion had not been propitious. As regards the concluding benedictions, they are profanely compared by the Gentiles to those of the slave, who, while being branded on the hand, was ordered to say thrice, “God bless the State.” The first was a blessing. So was the second. But at the third, natural indignation having mastered Sambo’s philosophy, forth came a certain naughty word not softened to “darn.” During the discourse, a Saint, in whose family some accident had occurred, was called out, but the accident failed to affect the riveted attention of the audience.

Then arose Mr. Heber C. Kimball, the second President. He is the model of a Methodist, a tall and powerful man, a “gentleman in black,” with small, dark, piercing eyes, and clean-shaven blue face. He affects the Boanerges style, and does not at times disdain the part of Thersites: from a certain dislike to the Nonconformist rant and whine, he prefers an every-day manner of speech, which savors rather of familiarity than of reverence. The people look more amused when he speaks than when others harangue them, and they laugh readily, as almost all crowds will, at the thinnest phantom of a joke. Mr. Kimball’s movements contrasted strongly with those of his predecessor; they consisted now of a stone-throwing gesture delivered on tiptoe, then of a descending movement, as

“When pulpit, drum ecclesiastic,
Was beat with fist and not with stick.”

He began with generalisms about humility, faithfulness, obeying counsel, and not beggaring one’s neighbor. Addressing the hand-cart emigrants, newly arrived from the “sectarian world,” he warned them to be on the look-out, or that every soul of them would be taken in and shaved (a laugh). Agreeing with the Prophet--Mr. Kimball is said to be his echo--in a promiscuous way concerning the morality of the Saints, he felt it notwithstanding his duty to say that among them were “some of the greatest rascals in the world” (a louder laugh, and N.B., the Mormons are never spared by their own preachers). After a long suit of advice, _à propos de rien_, to missionaries, he blessed, amen’d, and sat down.

[MR. KIMBALL’S STYLE.]

I confess that the second President’s style startled me. But presently I called to mind Luther’s description[147] of Tetzel’s sermon, in which he used to shout the words Bring! bring! bring! with such a horrible bellowing, that one would have said it was a mad bull rushing on the people and goring them with his horns; and D’Aubigné’s neat apology for Luther,[148] who, “in one of those homely and quaint, yet not undignified similitudes which he was fond of using, that he might be understood by the people,” illustrated the idea of God in history by a game of cards! “... Then came our Lord God. He dealt the cards:... This is the Ace of God....” Mormons also think it a merit to speak openly of “those things we know naturally:” they affect what to others appears coarseness and indelicacy. The same is the case with Oriental nations, even among the most modest and moral. After all, taste is in its general development a mere affair of time and place; what is apt to _froisser_ us in the nineteenth may have been highly refined in the sixteenth century, and what may be exceedingly unfit for Westminster Abbey and Notre Dame is often perfectly suited to the predilections and intelligence of Wales or the Tessin. It is only fair to both sides to state that Mr. Kimball is accused by Gentiles of calling his young wives, from the pulpit, “little heifers;” of entering into physiological details belonging to the Dorcas Society, or the clinical lecture-room, rather than the house of worship; and of transgressing the bounds of all decorum when reproving the sex for its _penchants_ and _ridicules_. At the same time, I never heard, nor heard of, any such indelicacy during my stay at Great Salt Lake City. The Saints abjured all knowledge of the “fact,” and--in this case, _nefas ab hoste doceri_--so gross a scandal should not be adopted from Gentile mouths.

[147] History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Book iii.,
chap. i.

[148] Ditto, Preface.

After Mr. Kimball’s address, a list of names for whom letters were lying unclaimed was called from the platform. Mr. Eldridge, a missionary lately returned from foreign travel, adjourned the meeting till 2 P.M., delivered the prayer of dismissal, during which all stood up, and ended with the benediction and amen. The Sacrament was not administered on this occasion. It is often given, and reduced to the very elements of a ceremony; even water is used instead of wine, because the latter is of Gentile manufacture. Two elders walk up and down the rows, one carrying a pitcher, the other a plate of broken bread, and each Saint partakes of both.

Directly the ceremony was over, I passed through the thirty carriages and wagons that awaited at the door the issuing of the congregation, and returned home to write my notes. Before appearing in the “Deserét News” the discourses are always recomposed; the reader, therefore, is warned against the following report, which appeared in the “News” of Wednesday, the 5th of September.

“BOWERY.--_Sunday, Sept. 2_, 10 A.M., Bishop Abraham O. Smoot
addressed the congregation. He said he rejoiced in the opportunity
he had been favored with of testing both principles and men in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; he was fully satisfied
that those who do right are constantly filled with joy and gladness
by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Every man must know God for
himself, and practice the principles of righteousness for himself;
learn the truth and the light, and walk therein. Men are too much in
the habit of patterning after their neighbors’ actions instead of
following the dictates of the Spirit of God; if the Saints do right
they are filled with light, truth, and the power of God. It has been
a matter of astonishment to many how we could so much rejoice in the
things of God, but the reason is our religion is true, and we know
it, for God has revealed it unto us, and hence we can rejoice in
the midst of calamities that would make our enemies very cross, and
cause them to swear about their troubles. Nine tenths of those who
have apostatized have done it on account of prosperity, like Israel
of old, but the Lord desires to use us for the advancement of his
kingdom, and the spreading abroad of light and truth. We should live
for God, and prepare ourselves for all the temporal and spiritual
blessings of his kingdom.

“President Brigham Young said if our heavenly Father could reveal all
he wishes to his Saints, it would greatly hasten their perfection,
and asked the question, Are the people prepared to receive those
communications and profit by them, that would bring about their
speedy perfection? He discovered a very great variety of degrees of
intelligence in the people; he also observed a manifest stupidity
in the people attempting to learn the principles of natural life.
Observed that God is just and equal in his ways, and that no man will
dare to dispute; also that there is no man in our government who
will speak truthfully, and according to his honest convictions, but
who will admit that we are the most law-abiding people within its
jurisdiction. Remarked that all the heathen nations have devotional
instincts, and none more than the natives of this vast continent;
and they all worship according to the best of their knowledge. The
whole human family can be saved in the kingdom of God if they are
disposed to receive and obey the Gospel. Reasoned on the subject of
fore-ordination, and said the religion of Jesus Christ is designed to
make the bad good and the good better. Argued that there is a feeling
in every human breast to acknowledge the supremacy of the Almighty
Creator. God is just, he is true, and if this were not the case no
mortal could be exalted in his presence; advised all to improve
upon the knowledge they had received of the things of God. Referred
briefly to the birth of Christ, and the attendant opposition and
threatening of the governments of the nations of the earth.

“President Heber C. Kimball followed with appropriate remarks on the
practical duties of life, the necessity of humility and faithfulness
among the Saints, and admonished all to be obedient to the mandates
of heaven, and to the counsels of the living oracles. In giving
advice to the elders who are expected to go on missions to preach the
Gospel, he said: ‘The commandment of Jesus to his apostles anciently
has been renewed unto us, viz., Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end
of the world.’”

[MR. BRIGHAM YOUNG’S SERMON.]

The student of the subject may desire to see how one of these sermons reads; I therefore extract from the “Deserét News” one spoken by Mr. Brigham Young during my stay in the city; it is chosen impartially, neither because it is better nor because it is worse than its fellows. The subject, it will be observed, is uninteresting; in fact, what negroes call “talkee-talkee”--_pour passer le temps_. But Mr. Brigham Young can, all admit, when occasion serves ability, “bring the house down,” and elicit thundering amens.

REMARKS by President BRIGHAM YOUNG, _Bowery_, A.M., _August 12,
1860_. (_Reported by G. D. Watt._)--“I fully understand that all
Saints constantly, so to speak, pray for each other. And when I find
a person who does not pray for the welfare of the kingdom of God on
the earth, and for the honest in heart, I am skeptical in regard
to believing that person’s religion to be genuine, and his faith
I should consider not the faith of Jesus. Those who have the mind
of Christ are anxious that it should spread extensively among the
people, to bring them to a correct understanding of things as they
are, that they may be able to prepare themselves to dwell eternally
in the heavens. This is your desire, and is what we continually pray
for.

“Brother J. V. Long’s discourse this morning was sweet to my taste;
and the remarks of Brother T. B. H. Stenhouse were very congenial
to my feelings and understanding. Brother Long has good command of
language, and can readily choose such words as best suit him to
convey his ideas.

“Brother Stenhouse remarked that the Gospel of salvation is the great
foundation of this kingdom; that we have not built up this kingdom,
nor established this organization, we have merely embraced it in
our faith; that God has established this kingdom, and has bestowed
the priesthood upon the children of men, and has called upon the
inhabitants of the earth to receive it, to repent of their sins, and
return to him with all their hearts. This portion of his remarks I
wish you particularly to treasure up.

“If the Angel Gabriel were to descend and stand before you, though
he said not a word, the influence and power that would proceed from
him, were he to look upon you in the power he possesses, would melt
this congregation. His eyes would be like flaming fire, and his
countenance would be like the sun at midday. The countenance of an
holy angel would tell more than all the language in the world. If
men who are called to speak before a congregation rise full of the
Holy Spirit and power of God, their countenances are sermons to the
people. But if their affections, feelings, and desires are like the
fool’s eye to the ends of the earth, looking for this, that, and the
other, and the kingdom of God is far from them and not in all their
affections, they may rise here and talk what they please, and it is
but like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal--mere empty, unmeaning
sounds to the ears of the people. I can not say this of what I have
heard to-day.

“Those faithful elders who have testified of this work to thousands
of people on the continents and islands of the sea will see the
fruits of their labors, whether they have said five words or
thousands. They may not see these fruits immediately, and perhaps in
many cases not until the millennium, but the savor of their testimony
will pass down from father to son. Children will say, ‘The words of
life were spoken to my grandfather and grandmother; they told me of
them, and I wish to become a member of the Church; I also wish to
be baptized for my father, and mother, and grandparents;’ and they
will come and keep coming, the living and the dead, and you will be
satisfied with your labors, whether they have been much or little, if
you continue faithful.

“Brother Long remarked that before he gathered to Zion he had imbibed
an idea that the people were all pure here. This is a day of trial
for you. If there is any thing that should give us sorrow and pain,
it is that any of the brethren and sisters come here and neglect
to live their religion. Some are greedy, covetous, and selfish,
and give way to temptation; they are wicked and dishonest in their
dealings with one another, and look at and magnify the faults of
every body, on the right and on the left. ‘Such a sister is guilty of
pilfering; such a brother is guilty of swearing,’ etc., ‘and we have
come a long distance to be joined with such a set; we do not care a
dime for “Mormonism,” nor for any thing else.’ The enemy takes the
advantage of such persons, and leads them to do that for which they
are afterward sorry. This is a matter of great regret to those who
wish to be faithful. But no matter how many give themselves up to
merchandising and love it better than their God, how many go to the
gold mines, how many go back on the road to trade with the wicked,
nor how many take their neighbors’ wood after it is cut and piled up
in the kanyons, or steal their neighbors’ axes, or any thing that is
their neighbors’, you live your religion, and we shall see the day
when we shall tread iniquity under foot. But if you listen to those
who practice iniquity, you will be carried away by it, as it has
carried away thousands. Let every one get a knowledge for himself
that this work is true. We do not want you to say that it is true
until you know that it is; and if you know it, that knowledge is as
good to you as though the Lord came down and told you. Then let every
person say, ‘I will live my religion, though every other person goes
to hell; I will walk humbly before God, and deal honestly with my
fellow-beings.’ There are now scores of thousands in this Territory
who will do this, and who feel as I do on this subject, and we will
overcome the wicked. Ten filthy, dirty sheep in a thousand cause
the whole flock to appear defiled, and a stranger would pronounce
them all filthy; but wash them, and you will find nine hundred and
ninety pure and clean. It is so with this people; half a dozen
horse-thieves tend to cause the whole community to appear corrupt in
the eyes of a casual observer.

“Brother Long said that the Lord will deal out correction to the
evil-doer, but that he would have nothing to do with it. I do not
know whether I shall or not, but I shall not ask the Lord to do what
I am not willing to do; and I do not think that Brother Long is any
more or less ready to do so than I am. Ask any earthly king to do a
work that you would not do, and he would be insulted. Were I to ask
the Lord to free us from ungodly wretches, and not lend my influence
and assistance, he would look upon me differently to what he now does.

“You have read that I had an agent in China to mix poison with the
tea to kill all the nations; that I was at the head of the Vigilance
Committee in California; that I managed the troubles in Kansas,
from the beginning to the end; that there is not a liquor-shop
or distillery but what Brigham Young dictates it: so state the
newspapers. In these and all other accusations of evil-doing I defy
them to produce the first show of evidence against me. It is also
asserted that President Buchanan and myself concocted the plan for
the army to come here, with a view to make money. By-and-by the poor
wretches will come bending and say, ‘I wish I was a “Mormon.”’ All
the army, with its teamsters, hangers-on, and followers, with the
judges, and nearly all the rest of the civil officers, amounting
to some seventeen thousand men, have been searching diligently for
three years to bring one act to light that would criminate me; but
they have not been able to trace out one thread or one particle of
evidence that would criminate me; do you know why? Because I walk
humbly with my God, and do right so far as I know how. I do no evil
to any one; and as long as I can have faith in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ to hinder the wolves from tearing the sheep and
devouring them, without putting forth my hand, I shall do so.

“I can say honestly and truly before God, and the holy angels and
all men, that not one act of murder or disorder has occurred in this
city or Territory that I had any knowledge of, any more than a babe
a week old, until after the event has transpired; that is the reason
they can not trace any crime to me. If I have faith enough to cause
the devils to eat up the devils, like the Kilkenny cats, I shall
certainly exercise it. Joseph Smith said that they would eat each
other up as did those cats. They will do so here, and throughout the
world. The nations will consume each other, and the Lord will suffer
them to bring it about. It does not require much talent or tact to
get up opposition in these days; you see it rife in communities, in
meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities; that is the knife that
will cut down this government. The axe is laid at the root of the
tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn
down.

“Out of this Church will grow the kingdom which Daniel saw. This
is the very people that Daniel saw would continue to grow, and
spread, and prosper; and if we are not faithful, others will take
our places, for this is the Church and people that will possess the
kingdom forever and ever. Will we do this in our present condition
as a people? No; for we must be pure and holy, and be prepared for
the presence of our Savior and God, in order to possess the kingdom.
Selfishness, wickedness, bickering, tattling, lying, and dishonesty
must depart from the people before they are prepared for the Savior;
we must sanctify ourselves before our God.

“I wanted to ask Brother Long a question this morning--what he had
learned in regard to the original sin. Let the elders, who like
speculation, find out what it is, if they can, and inform us next
Sabbath; or, if you have any thing else that is good, bring it along.
I wish to impress upon your minds to live your religion, and, when
you come to this stand to speak, not to care whether you say five
words or five thousand, but to come with the power of God upon you,
and you will comfort the hearts of the Saints. All the sophistry in
the world will do no good. If you live your religion, you will live
with the Spirit of Zion within you, and will try, by every lawful
means, to induce your neighbors to live their religion. In this way
we will redeem Zion, and cleanse it from sin.

“God bless you. Amen.”

The gift of unknown tongues--which is made by some physiologists the result of an affection of the epigastric region, and by others an abnormal action of the organ of language--is now apparently rarer than before. Anti-Mormon writers thus imitate the “blatant gibberish” which they derive directly from Irvingism: “Eli, ele, elo, ela--come, coma, como--reli, rele, rela, relo--sela, selo, sele, selum--vavo, vava, vavum--sero, seri, sera, serum.” Lieutenant Gunnison relates[149] a facetious story concerning a waggish youth, who, after that a woman had sprung up and spoken “in tongues” as follows, “Mela, meli, melee,” sorely pressed by the “gift of interpretation of tongues,” translated the sentence into the vernacular, “My leg, my thigh, my knee.” For this he was called before the Council, but he stoutly persisted in his “interpretation” being “by the Spirit,” and they dismissed him with admonition. Gentiles have observed that whatever may be uttered “in tongues,” it is always translated into very intelligible English.

[149] The Mormons. Chap. vi. Social Condition.

That evening, when dining out, I took a lesson in Mormon modesty. The mistress of the house, a Gentile, but not an anti-Mormon, was requested by a saintly visitor, who was also a widow, to instruct me that on no account must I propose to see her home. “Mormon ladies,” said my kind informant, “are very strict;” unnecessarily so on this occasion, I could not but think. Something similar occurred on another occasion: a very old lady, wishing to return home, surreptitiously left the room and sidled out of the garden gate, and my companion, an officer from Camp Floyd, at once recognized the object of the retreat. I afterward learned at dinner and elsewhere among the Mormons to abjure the Gentile practice of giving precedence to that sex than which, according to Latin grammar, the masculine is nobler. The lesson, however, was not new; I had been taught the same, in times past, among certain German missionaries who assumed precedence over their wives upon a principle borrowed from St. Paul.

[MR. STAINES.--ADOPTION.]

I took the earliest opportunity of visiting, at his invitation, the Prophet’s gardens. The grounds were laid out by Mr. W. C. Staines, now on Church business in London.[150] Mr. Staines arrived at Great Salt Lake City an exceptionally poor emigrant, and is now a rich man, with house and farm, all the proceeds of his own industry. This and many other instances which I could quote prove that although, as a rule, the highest dignitaries are the wealthiest, and although the polygamist can not expect to keep a large family and fill at the same time a long purse, the Gentiles somewhat exaggerate when they represent that Church discipline keeps the lower orders in a state of pauperdom. Mr. Staines is also the “son of ‘Brigham’ by adoption.” This custom is prevalent among the Mormons as among the Hindoos, but with this difference, that while the latter use it when childless, the former employ it as the means of increasing their glory in the next world. The relationship is truly one of parent and child, by choice, not only by the mere accident of birth, and the “son,” if necessary, lives with and receives the necessaries of life from his “father.” Before entering the garden we were joined by Mr. Mercer, who, long after my departure from India, had missionarized at Kurrachee in “Scinde, or the Unhappy Valley.”

[150] I have to thank Mr. Staines for kind assistance in supplying me
with necessary items of information.

[FRUIT.]

The May frost had injured the fruit. Grapes were but quarter-grown, while winter was fast approaching. I suggested to the civil and obliging English gardener that it would be well to garnish the trellised walls, as is done in Tuscany, with mats which roll up and can be let down at night. Bacchus appeared in three forms: the California grape, which is supposed to be the Madeira introduced into the New World by the Franciscan Missions; the Catawba--so called from an Indian people on a river of the same name--a cultivated variety of the _Vitis labrusca_, and still the wine-grape in the States. The third is the inferior Isabella, named after his wife by “ole man Gibbs,”[151] who first attempted to civilize the fox-grape (_Vitis vulpina_), growing on banks of streams in most of the temperate states. A vineyard is now being planted on the hill-side near Mr. Brigham Young’s block, and home-made wine will soon become an item of produce in Utah. Pomology is carefully cultivated; about one hundred varieties of apples have been imported, and of these ninety-one are found to thrive as seedlings: in good seasons their branches are bowed down by fruit, and must be propped up, or they will break under their load. The peaches were in all cases unpruned: upon this important point opinions are greatly divided. The people generally believe that the foliage is a protection to the fruit during the spring frosts. The horticulturists declare that the “extremes of temperature render proper pruning even more necessary than in France, and that the fervid summers often induce a growth of wood which must suffer severely during the inclement months, unless checked and hardened by cutting back.” Besides grapes and apples, there were walnuts, apricots and quinces, cherries and plums, currants, raspberries, and gooseberries. The principal vegetables were the Irish and the sweet potato, squashes, peas--excellent--cabbages, beets, cauliflowers, lettuce, and broccoli; a little rhubarb is cultivated, but it requires too much expensive sugar for general use, and white celery has lately been introduced. Leaving the garden, we walked through the various offices, oil-mill, timber-mill, and smithy: in the latter oxen are shod, according to the custom of the country, with half shoes. The animal is raised from the ground by a broad leather band under the belly, and is liable to be lamed by any but a practiced hand.

[151] Similarly, the Constantia of the Cape was named after Madam Van
Stell, the wife of the governor.

[THE PENITENTIARY.]

On the evening of the 3d of September, while sauntering about the square in which a train of twenty-three wagons had just bivouacked, among the many others to whom Mr. Staines introduced me was the Apostle John Taylor, the “Champion of Rights,” Speaker in the House, and whilom editor. I had heard of him from the best authorities as a man so morose and averse to Gentiles, “who made the healing virtue depart out of him,” that it would be advisable to avoid his “fierceness.” The _véridique_ Mr. Austin Ward describes him as “an old man deformed and crippled,” and Mrs. Ferris as a “heavy, dark-colored, beetle-browed man.” Of course, I could not recognize him from these descriptions--a stout, good-looking, somewhat elderly personage, with a kindly gray eye, pleasant expression, and a forehead of the superior order; he talked of Westmoreland his birthplace, and of his European travels for a time, till the subject of Carthage coming upon the _tapis_, I suspected who my interlocutor was. Mr. Staines burst out laughing when he heard my mistake, and I explained the reason to the apostle, who laughed as heartily. Wishing to see more of him, I accompanied him in the carriage to the Sugar-house Ward, where he was bound on business, and _chemin faisant_ we had a long talk. He pointed out to me on the left the mouths of the several kanyons, and informed me that the City Creek and the Red Buttes on the northeast, and the Emigration, Parley’s, Mill Creek, Great Cotton-wood and Little Cotton-wood Kanyons to the east and southeast, all head together in two points, thus enabling troops and provisions to be easily and readily concentrated for the defense of the eastern approaches. When talking about the probability of gold digging being developed near Great Salt Lake City, he said that the Mormons are aware of that, but that they look upon agriculture as their real wealth. The Gentiles, however--it is curious that they do not form a company among themselves for prospecting--assert that the Church has very rich mines, which are guarded by those dragons of Danites more fiercely than the Hesperidian Gardens, and which will never be known till Miss Utah becomes Mistress Deserét. Arriving at the tall, gaunt Sugar-house--its occupation is gone, while the name remains--we examined the machinery employed in making threshing and wool-carding machines, flanges, wheels, cranks, and similar necessaries. After a visit to a nail manufactory belonging to Squire Wells, and calling upon Mrs. Harris, we entered the Penitentiary. It is a somewhat Oriental-looking building, with a large quadrangle behind the house, guarded by a wall with a walk on the summit, and pepper-caster sentry-boxes at each angle. There are cells in which the convicts are shut up at night, but one of these had lately been broken by an Indian, who had cut his way through the wall; a Hindoo “gonnoff” would soon “pike” out of a “premonitory” like this. We found in it besides the guardians only six persons, of whom two were Yutas. When I remarked to Gentiles how few were the evidences of crime, they invariably replied that, instead of half a dozen souls, half the population ought to be in the place. On our return we resumed the subject of the massacre at Carthage, in which it will be remembered that Mr. John Taylor was severely wounded, and escaped by a miracle, as it were. I told him openly that there must have been some cause for the furious proceedings of the people in Illinois, Missouri, and other places against the Latter-Day Saints; that even those who had extended hospitality to them ended by hating and expelling them, and accusing them of all possible iniquities, especially of horse-thieving, forgery, larceny, and offenses against property, which on the borders are never pardoned--was this smoke quite without fire? He heard me courteously and in perfect temper; replied that no one claimed immaculateness for the Mormons; that the net cast into the sea brought forth evil as well as good fish, and that the Prophet was one of the laborers sent into the vineyard at the eleventh hour. At the same time, that when the New Faith was stoutly struggling into existence, it was the object of detraction, odium, persecution--so, said Mr. Taylor, were the Christians in the days of Nero--that the border ruffians, forgers, horse-thieves, and other vile fellows followed the Mormons wherever they went; and, finally, that every fraud and crime was charged upon those whom the populace were disposed, by desire for confiscation’s sake, to believe guilty. Besides the theologic odium there was also the political: the Saints would vote for their favorite candidates, consequently they were never without enemies. He quoted the Mormon rules: 1. Worship what you like. 2. Leave your neighbor alone. 3. Vote for whom you please; and compared their troubles to the Western, or, as it is popularly called, the Whisky insurrection in 1794, whose “dreadful night” is still remembered in Pennsylvania. Mr. Taylor remarked that the Saints had been treated by the United States as the colonies had been treated by the crown: that the persecuted naturally became persecutors, as the Pilgrim fathers, after flying for their faith, hung the Quakers on Bloody Hill at Boston; and that even the Gentiles can not defend their own actions. I heard for the first time this view of the question, and subsequently obtained from the apostle a manuscript account, written _in extenso_, of his experience and his sufferings. It has been transferred in its integrity to Appendix No. III., the length forbidding its insertion in the text: a tone of candor, simplicity, and honesty renders it highly attractive.